First ancient genome recovered from the Mediterranean area

The first farmers entering Europe about 8,000 years ago coming from the Near East spread through the continent following two different routes: one to Central Europe via the Danube, and the other towards the Iberian Peninsula following the Mediterranean coast. These latter farmers developed their own cultural tradition: the Cardium Pottery, so-called due to a characteristic incised decoration made with the edges of bivalve shells belonging to the genus Cerastoderma (formerly Cardium).

So far, only genomic data of various individuals belonging to the inland route found in Hungary and Germany were available, but the complete genomes of the Mediterranean route were lacked. This is partly due to the climatic conditions in Southern Europe, which hinder the conservation of genetic material.

The research team led by Carles Lalueza-Fox from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, has sequenced the complete genome of a Neolithic woman from a tooth dated in 7,400 years and from the cardial levels of the Cova Bonica cave in Vallirana, near Barcelona. The results have been published in the Molecular Biology and Evolution journal.

According to Iñigo Olalde, first author of the work, "the sequencing of this genome has been possible thanks to new advances in both techniques of ancient DNA extraction, building of and construction techniques of genomic libraries and massive sequencing; from an experimental point of view, it has been quite challenging".

Genetic changes that are reflected on the physical appearance

Reference article: Olalde I, Schroeder H, Sandoval-Velasco M, Vinner L, Lobón I, Ramirez O, Civit S, García Borja P, Salazar-García DC, Talamo S, Fullola JM, Oms FX, Pedro M, Martínez P, Sanz M, Daura J, Zilhão J, Marquès-Bonet T, Gilbert MTP, and Lalueza-Fox C (21025). A common genetic origin for early farmers from Mediterranean Cardial and Central European LBK cultures. Mol Biol Evol

Source of English news: UPF - http://www.upf.edu/enoticies/en/1516/0906.html